I’m tired of a lot of things, but I am especially tired of the laziness our president regularly displays. He runs the government. If he wants information, all he has to do is make a phone call or tell an aide to go get it for him. But he frequently spreads false rumors, bogus statistics, and implausible conspiracy theories without the slightest effort to verify or debunk them. Today, we have another example, this one from an hardline Iranian cleric who opposed the nuclear deal his country made with the international community.
Donald Trump has tweeted an unsubstantiated claim from an hardline Iranian cleric and circulated by a news agency linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard, that thousands of Iranians were granted US citizenship as part of the 2015 nuclear deal.
In his 8am tweet, the US president said: “Just out that the Obama administration granted citizenship, during the terrible Iran Deal negotiation, to 2,500 Iranians, including to [sic] government officials. How big (and bad) is that?”
He cited no evidence for the allegation.
It’s also interesting that Trump can’t be convinced that Crimea belongs to Ukraine or that North Korea cannot be trusted or that a strong NATO and European Union is in our national interests, but he somehow still thinks Iran is the worst enemy we’ve ever had. It’s very curious and made even more puzzling by his willingness to cite the most hostile Iranians when it suits his purpose.
And then there is this:
President Trump “plans to meet one-on-one with Vladimir Putin at the start of their July 16 summit in Helsinki, Finland… before allowing other aides to join the highly anticipated encounter with the Russian leader,” CNNreports.
“Without official note-takers or other witnesses, one-on-one meetings lack any official record, making it difficult afterward to determine whether agreements have been reached.”
Jonathan Chait: “Huh, that’s weird. It’s almost as if Trump has some kind of secret relationship involving money or blackmail with Russia he wants to discuss without fear of being revealed to his own country!”
Don’t you think that at least one American should witness what Trump and Putin have to say to each other? Personally, I’d impeach Trump for even announcing this intention, and I’d certainly not let it happen without Mueller sitting in between them at the same table.
